Nicaragua to hold elections under new constitutional framework, says Parliament leader

Nicaragua's National Assembly president, Gustavo Porras, has asserted that elections will indeed take place in the country, but under a revised constitutional framework designed to shield them from foreign interference and "traitors to the homeland." This clarification comes after President Daniel Ortega's recent statement that elections would no longer be a pathway for the opposition to gain power.

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Yes, elections will be held in Nicaragua but under a new constitutional framework that shields them from foreign interference and from "traitors to the homeland" in the country.

Porras, a member of the ruling Sandinista party, explained that Ortega's remarks were intended to convey that elections would not be manipulated by "imperialists" to impose their will on the Nicaraguan people. The proposed constitutional and legal reforms aim to prevent individuals deemed "coup plotters" or "traitors" by the government, as well as parties or organizations funded by foreign entities, from competing.

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What the president meant is that in Nicaragua "elections will never again be in the hands of imperialists to try to overwhelm and impose the power of the imperialists over the people."

"The important thing is that we establish in the constitution that in this country we cannot accept elections where coup plotters, traitors to the homeland, participate, where parties and organizations financed with foreign money, with foreign powers, by foreign organizations, participate," Porras stated. He emphasized that Nicaraguans themselves will determine and organize the elections, rejecting any notion of being "slaves" to foreign powers or allowing "Yankees" or "imperialists" to direct the electoral process.

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The important thing is that we establish in the constitution that in this country we cannot accept elections where coup plotters, traitors to the homeland, participate, where parties and organizations financed with foreign money, with foreign powers, by foreign organizations, participate.

These statements have drawn criticism from neighboring countries like Costa Rica and Panama, with the latter recalling its ambassador. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also called for international efforts to pressure the Ortega-Murillo government. The legislative body expects to present the reform initiative in early August, aiming for approval in the upcoming legislative session. Ortega, who has governed Nicaragua since 2007, faces ongoing accusations of electoral fraud and political persecution.

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We will never again be slaves to anyone, to any foreign power, and we will never again have a Yankee, an imperialist directing the elections of our country.